In Memory of Sonja

Sonja-cat, a QAS alum from 2012, passed away peacefully in the arms of her family on May 30, 2019. She was 18.

Although Sonja’s early life was a mystery, her family knew her as a sweet, loving cat who used patience and gentleness to train her family to accommodate her preferences and conform to her routines. Over the 7 years she lived with them, they learned her food and drink preferences, her consistent disdain of conventional cat toys, and her occasional willingness to indulge in a hit of catnip. She commanded the middle 50% of an expensive Swedish memory-foam bed, allowing her human-mom the 25% on each side. She enjoyed snuggling with her human-brother to watch the Patriots, right up through the Super Bowls. She insisted that her people allow her to sniff out the food they ate, just to convince herself that nothing was more delicious than her own food, which she evaluated for acceptability on a regular basis.

In exchange for these considerations, Sonja delayed her demand for breakfast by 1 hour, from 4am to 5am. She grudgingly allowed her people to use the bathroom with the door closed, but then waited for them to make sure they were OK. She helpfully told her people the minute her litter box became unacceptable, no matter the hour, day or night. She quietly lay in her leopard-print stroller and allowed herself to be wheeled around the neighborhood once she was convinced there was no veterinarian at the end of the trip.

In addition to her human-mom and human-brother, Sonja is survived by a Shih-Tzu cousin Sophie Alix-Garth, of whom she was not especially fond, and a British Shorthair cousin Bentley Garth-Hatch. Another British Shorthair cousin, Nigel Garth-Hatch, predeceased her.

Sonja’s people respectfully request that everyone contemplating bringing an animal companion into their lives consider adopting a senior pet.

Quincy Animal Shelter is a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and a recognized Massachusetts charity.

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